The Hiss of the Serpent
by TedLupin32
Summary: AU: Where Harry gets sorted into Slytherin under odd circumstances. Dark Harry! Harry/OC
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Harry Potter's cocky gait almost seemed out of place to most of the teachers as he walked through the gigantic set of doors at the end of the Great Hall. Sure he walked among the group of new students but he seemed to commend the crowd as he strode through the entrance. He also didn't seem nervous in the slightest as he waited for his turn to be sorted. All Dumbledore could think of was how pureblooded he looked, he never would have known that he was the son of two generally modest parents. He certainly held James' confidence.

As Harry's name was finally called out he strode toward the stool with the ratty old Sorting Hat setting on it. He sat as calm as a statue as Professor McGonagall placed the hat over his head. In mere moments the hat came upon a decision…

"Slytherin!" The Slytherin table started to yell and whoop and clap as Harry walked to their table to set by Draco Malfoy who looked at him in disgust. Dumbledore put his face in his hands and sighed. Harry had to be one of the first Potters he knew of that had gone into Slytherin. He was sure his parents wouldn't be happy. In fact he could clearly imagine the shocked looks on Lily and James' faces as they learned what house their only son was in.

Dumbledore soon was caught reminiscing on the October night many years ago…Lily and James had been gone to an Order meeting when Voldemort chose to strike at Harry, but thankfully just as the prophecy foretold Harry was able to rebound Voldemort's curse back upon him. Though baby Harry had to stay in the intensive care unit of Saint Mungos for a month. He made it through it though and had lead a perfectly fine childhood with a pair of loving parents to watch over him.

Then he became what Dumbledore looked upon now a young hot-headed pureblood that oddly looked quite similar to Lucius Malfoy's son who sat next to him. Dumbledore dreaded having to be Harry's parents and getting a letter that said their child had been put in the same house as the dark lord that he had killed. Finally Dumbledore sighed and went back to his dinner.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

3 years later…

Harry looked up to the front of the hall to watch the names of the competitors for the Tri-wizard cup. Malfoy sat across the table from him flanked by Crabbe and Goyle, Blaise sat beside Harry on his right while his girlfriend Jessica Randall sat on his left. She gripped Harry's hand in anticipation; she was one year below Harry. Naturally she became one of the most popular girls in Slytherin being the girlfriend of the Boy-who-lived, not to mention the poster boy of Slytherin.

Soon a slip of paper sprung from the goblet and flew into Dumbledore's hand. He read it out loud in a booming voice. "Fleur Delacour from Beaxbatons," soon another slip fluttered up. "Victor Krum from Durmstrang," then another. "Cedric Diggory of Hogwarts. There we go we have our champions we will see in the following weeks who will come out on top." Before Dumbledore could finish speaking another slip of paper flew out of the cup. Since he wasn't prepared to catch it, it fluttered to the ground. As he bent down to pick it up Harry could see his face visibly pale as he read the slip.

"Harry Potter." Silence seemed to engulf the room. The whole Slytherin table turned their gazes on him. He stood up and began to walk to the front of the Great Hall. The stares of everyone in the hall seemed to drill through his back. He couldn't think of anyone who would have put his name in the goblet because he certainly hadn't done it himself. Soon he came up to stand by Dumbledore.

"I didn't put my name in that goblet. Besides how could I have I'm only a fourth year." The old man nodded in agreement and scratched his overflowing beard in consideration.

"Well if the goblet chose you, you have to compete. Come back with me so we can figure out what the others think. Dumbledore soon lead him by the arm to a room that jutted off the Great Hall itself. As they walked out Harry could still feel the stares drilling through him.

Once they entered the room Harry could see the other three champions standing with their respective teacher/headmaster. The room was adorned with portraits as every hall and room of Hogwarts is and their occupants scrutinized him. As the foreign headmasters began to argue with Dumbledore Harry drifted over to sit in a chair by the other champions. Fleur was very calm about the matter and didn't seem to care either way that Harry competed Krum also shared this same attitude but Cedric on the other hand…

Harry had a sneaking suspicion that if he had been a Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, or fellow Hufflepuff it would have been different but since he was a Slytherin and not to mention a younger Slytherin it was doubly offensive to his convoluted sense of honor. Harry didn't really care at all what any of them thought about him competing because he was going to do it no matter what they said.

Soon the adults were done arguing and naturally it was decided that Harry would compete and there would be two champions form Hogwarts. He non-chalantly stood from the chair and half-listened to a short debriefing on the rules of the competition while he thought about how to find out what the first task was without drawing too much attention or breaking too many rules.

Once the briefing was over everyone had already left the feast even the late stragglers like Crabbe and Goyle. Harry began to make his way to down to the dungeons and the Slytherin dorms. As he was walking he wondered what his parent's reaction would be to him entering the tournament. They would probably go apoplectic. After he had been sorted into Slytherin his father had sent him a particularly vicious Howler on how the Potters had always been in Gryffindor. He finally got over the bruise to his reputation a couple of duels later. (Malfoy had been oh, so subservient after that.) Soon he reached the entrance into the realm of Slytherin. He quickly tapped on the door in a certain pattern and it opened onto the large spacious common room.

He wasted no time by the fire and made his way up to the fourth year dormitory that he shared with Blaise Zabini, Malfoy, Goyle, Crabbe, and Theodore Nott. A thorough interrogation ensued as Harry tried to get ready for bed. Harry turned the questions away until morning and went to sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Harry whipped over the dragon on his broomstick as the crowd cheered him on. With the golden egg under his arm he made a dive to sweep over the ebullient fans. He soaked up the praise with a smug grin like any Slytherin and soon made a flourish as he came down. The egg caught the sun and glittered brightly as he lifted it up high. The dragon was safely immured behind a barrier spell that wouldn't let if lift off or move in Harry direction.

Oddly Professor Moody had given him the spell. At first Harry had put him off as being a strict non-rule breaker since he was one of his parent's friends but he had even given Harry extra help when he hadn't asked it. Harry being the Slytherin that he was took all the free help he could get. He specifically thought that the spell could be useful later on if he needed it in a duel or something. He cracked up just thinking about Malfoy trying in vain to lift the barrier. Once he was done flaunting his victory he stepped up into the champion's box where the others stood staring at him incredulously. His Hogwarts rival hadn't gone yet so he watched as he also called forth his broom but had no help of additional spells.

Once the task was over, Harry was declared the overall winner having won so easily. He shrugged off the glares of the Hufflepuffs and Gryffindors as he walked back into the castle. He also soaked up the reverent cheers of the Slytherins. As he walked back to the Slytherin Common Room he got many congratulations and insults, most consisting of accusations that he had cheated. Stoically he never replied in anger as he strode to the Common Room.

The common room he entered was a stark contrast to the dungeon hallways he had had to walk through to get there. It was warmed generously by the stone fireplace on one wall. It held several couches, armchairs, and tables. He found Jessica waiting for him in one of the more comfortable chairs. She jumped up and gripped him in a vice-like grip.

"I was so worried you would end up killed by that dragon!!! I can't believe you chose to compete!!!" She said once she untangled herself form his chest. Harry brushed it off with a nonchalant shrug.

"It was easy once I had that spell to disable the dragon. I'm surprised they didn't accuse me of cheating all those stinking gryffindorks and their honor they wouldn't last a second in Slytherin. I suppose that's why they are in Gryffindor." Harry said mockingly rubbing his chin in contemplation. Jessica cracked up in laughter.

"You could make a good Ravenclaw with that look." She said between chuckles. Then once Harry put all his stuff away in his dorm they started to head towards the Great Hall to eat dinner. They met Blaise in the lobby before the hall. He gave Harry a joyful congratulation. Harry took it in stride never showing too much thanks for congratulations due of a champion.

He strode into the Great Hall amid many cheers and fanfare. He mockingly bowed before he sat down at the Slytherin table. Soon his plate and mouth were full of food. Even though he didn't show it the task had been exhausting psychologically and physically. He put up a proud face to the crowd but it really wasn't easy to contend with the every day twists and turns of the Slytherin House. Sometimes he wondered if it would have been easier if he had been a Gryffindor like his parents. He wouldn't have to deal with internal politics or putting up a facade to the general public.

Once dinner was over and Harry was headed up to his dorm the questioning began. "So, how did you do it?" Malfoy asked seconds after Harry walked into the room. The other boys yelled the same question. Malfoy stared at him with a smug grin on his face. "Well?"

"Well, I can't reveal all my sources, but once I found out the task had to do with dragons I was able to find a suitable defensive spell. Wait, how do I know one of you isn't going to go to Dumbledork with this if I tell you the rest?" Harry asked as he looked around at the five faces surrounding him.

"Harry, we would never tell a fellow Slytherin's secret, right guys?" All of the boys nodded an affirmative. "So go on with your tale."

"Well, to tell you the truth Professor Moody helped me with the spell. I don't really know why, but he did." Harry said with a shrug.

"Well, don't you think you should be a little suspicious of a school official helping you cheat? He could have an ulterior motive." Malfoy offered as they all settled in to their beds. Harry turned it over in his head and did find it kind of odd. He decided to find a way to test the theory tomorrow.

"No, I never thought he might have an ulterior motive. I'll have to find out." Harry turned off the lamp beside his bed and went to sleep.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Harry peered out above the supply boxes to see what Professor Moody was doing. He saw him reach into a small case holding many vials filled with a repulsive looking liquid. He refilled his neck flask with it and then moved over to a large chest in another section of the office. He opened it up and seemed to give it a couple of insults. Harry thought this odd since you didn't usually talk to your luggage if you're sane. Then he heard a grunt which meant that the teacher was holding someone captive in the chest.

After checking on his captive Moody left the room to go confer with the officials on the next contest. Harry figured he would be gone for a while. That gave him enough time to figure out who he had kidnapped. He immediately headed over to the chest. Inspection showed that Harry would be able to unlock it with a spell. As he tried to think of the spell in his head he decided to check out the liquid. He was able to open the old and tattered case with no problems. The contents looked and smelled quite repulsive. He couldn't imagine drinking as much as Moody did during the day.

Once he was done there he moved on to the chest. This also looked quite battered no doubt after all the years of teaching and auror work he had done. He pulled his wand from his pocket to open the long series of locks. "_Alohomora_!" They all popped upon and Harry grabbed the lid and lifted it up. At first he didn't see anyone because the bottom of the trunk was right there and there was no one. Then Harry realized it was a fake bottom to turn off anyone who might hazard a glance at it, but since Harry knew there was someone in the trunk he was able to pick out the false bottom.

After the false bottom was gone he could see that the trunk was charmed to hold a hundred times more space than a normal one its size. There sitting in the very bottom was a man tied up and gagged. You could see that Moody had been pulling his hair out for something. Harry decided to see who the man was even if he was a Death Eater he could handle him. So he used a levitating spell to bring the man out and into the office.

Then he yanked the gag out of his mouth in case he was dangerous. As soon as the gag was out he began to speak.

"Exactly who are you boy? Why did you take me out of my humble abode?" He asked me. It was quite obvious he was being sarcastic; no doubt he thought Harry was helping Moody.

"Hey, I'm not helping Moody. The name is Harry Potter. I'm just trying to figure out why he kidnapped you for?"

"Boy, I am Alastor Moody! That guy's an imposter. He is a Death Eater trying to get to you Potter! He was going to trap you with Voldemort after the last task. That's why he has been helping you win! I would never have helped you cheat."

"Well then I suppose we should take this to the authorities. They can figure out what their going to do with the other Moody. Let's get out of here before he shows back up for more of that potion he sis using to impersonate you." After this the two left one to go back to class and the other to Dumbledore's office. Harry thought they had a good plan and even if he personally didn't like Dumbledore he would be able to help Moody.

Harry just barely made it to potions on time but he would have been yelled at any way since it was Professor Snape. He still didn't see why just because his father had been a Gryffindor he had to treat him horribly. By this time he shrugged it off as something he would never find out. He sat down at a table with Blaise. They talked today about making potions to tell the truth. Harry imagined the real Moody and Dumbledore torturing the Death Eater in Dumbledore's office. _Nah, they didn't have the guts, _he thought. They would probably just rely on a bottle of this _veritaserum _stuff Snape was talking about at the moment.

Once class was over and they were out of earshot of the rest of the Slytherins Harry told Blaise about his inspection of the imposter's office. The other Slytherin was surprised that Harry had believed the man without much proof for his case. Harry knew that it was probably that Potter trait of trust and honesty coming out. He hated it.

At dinner Harry noticed that Moody wasn't at the head table tonight neither was Dumbledore. They were probably still trying to sort out the situation. Suddenly half way through dinner the doors to the Great Hall slammed open to reveal Moody. Harry didn't know which one until he limped to the front of the hall to the podium. "Students, the Defense against the dark arts professor you have had this year was an imposter. He kidnapped me and used my hair and a Polyjuice potion to look exactly like me. Soon he will be occupying a cell in Azkaban if all goes well. Ladies and Gentleman this man was trying to get to Harry Potter. If he had sprung his trap he would have succeeded in bring back Lord Voldemort. Yes, yes it would have been terrible, but he didn't. So you now have your real teacher." After the speak a small group of people clapped and then went on with their dinner. Harry knew deep down in his heart he had done something good for once…


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Chapter 5

One year later…

Harry poked his head around the corner circumspectly to look at Umbridge as she strode down the hall with her Inspector Squad behind her. He didn't get a good look at the members because he was afraid of being noticed. There was no doubt in his mind Umbridge was coming to break up the group. Quickly he retracted his head and motioned for the group to disperse out the back door. It was a nice addition to the magical room they had found to house the organization Harry and Draco headed. The room was one of Harry's most favorite late night discoveries. Whatever you could think up the room would create it. So right now it was filled with dummies for defense spell practice. If Umbridge found them they would meet a swift punishment. Harry didn't particularly care he had increased his dislike for Umbridge exponentially in the last few weeks. She especially irked him when she outlawed meetings of more than three students.

Harry had been surprised that Draco had joined him in heading the Serpent Order (It may have not been the most creative name but the members represented the Slytherin's against Umbridge basically.) Umbridge had joined the school as a Ministry adjutant to Dumbledore. Apparently the Ministry expected Dumbledork to do something wrong or not politically correct, so they had sent in the pink frog lady. Harry also suspected that the Ministry was suspicious about Professor Moody's situation last year; they probably felt that there was no way that a Death Eater could have infiltrated the school so well.

Harry motioned Draco to him. The blond jogged over to Harry's position at the door. He had been teaching a group of third years how to disarm someone. Harry had been surprised in the least that Draco had joined the Serpent Order. He had thought that Draco would choose his father and family's loyalty to the Ministry. Of course they were only loyal to the Ministry because they could dupe the current administration easier than any new one. Harry chalked it up as Draco's form of rebellion against his father.

"We are going to have to create a little distraction here if we want to give the rest time to leave." Harry said and pulled his wand out of his pocket and carefully aimed at the cobblestones in the wall behind Umbridge. She had slowly been able to get more and more authority in the school. At the moment she almost had more power than Dumbledore. The students that followed her were genuine kiss-asses. They only joined her to save their own skin. Harry knew that this was usually a distinctly Slytherin personality trait. This was one of those Slytherin traits that Harry didn't have. Even though he was a Slytherin he was loyal to his friends.

This made Harry angry when his "friends" joined Umbridge and the Inspector Squad. The blast from Harry's wand sent the stones the wall was built out of, flying in every direction. One conveniently hit Umbridge square behind her head. She fell down completely knocked out. The Inspector squad also suffered several causalities. Soon several had their wands out sending curses and hexes at the room's entrance. Harry ducked back inside. "Well, Malfoy I guess that was enough. Now let's get the hell out of here!" Harry ran to the back entrance and slipped out into the hallway.

"Wait, Potter for a second I'm going to hit them again. They are definitely not going to like this!" Draco called from the door. Harry paused and turned around. Draco shot a hex that sent several hissing snakes slithering at the Inspector Squad. Harry cracked up laughing. He thumped Draco on the back as they hurried out of the deserted room. Draco began to laugh with him.

"That was perfect choice of hexes. I mean it symbolizes us so well. Did you see the look on their faces? Hilarious!! Absolutely hilarious!! I don't think they will bother us for a while." Harry said as they came upon the Slytherin Common Room. They were both still laughing when they entered the Common Room. Harry stopped laughing when he noticed that Jessica was missing. "Has anyone seen Jessica?" He looked around the whole Slytherin complex extremely concerned. "Did anyone see her leave the Room of Requirement?" The other members in her year shook their heads.

Harry couldn't find out anything from anyone. He did get some conflicting views. One fourth year boy thought that he had seen her at the meeting at all. Then a third year girl said that she had seen her leave the meeting in the middle. Harry knew that the truth was probably something in between. He didn't believe that she would have left the meeting without telling him. He stayed in the Common Room during dinner waiting for her to come back. Time passed and everyone soon returned from dinner. Harry became more concerned. She should have returned by now. Malfoy had said that she wasn't at dinner.

Harry sat in the armchair for hours until 10 o'clock at night. Finally he saw the door tot eh Common Room slowly creak open. Harry didn't say a word, waiting to see who it was. It was Jessica. She was covered in small bruises and looked almost exhausted. Harry still didn't say a word, wondering what she would do. She let out a gasp of relief. The she headed toward the girls dormitory. That was when he noticed the badge on her chest. He read it in dread. It said, Inquisitorial Squad (Umbridge's fancy name for the Inspector Squad.)

Harry jumped up off the armchair and latched on to Jessica's arm. She jumped into the air at the unannounced touch. Normally when she felt Harry's touch it was warm and loving, but this was as cold as steel. "I cannot believe you. You treacherous bitch! What made you sell us out?" He said whipping her around on the staircase. His face was pale with rage.

"They were going to ruin my pureblood status. What was I supposed to do? That is everything in this house." His face didn't change at all.

"How could they take away your status? Or are you pureblooded? I can't believe I've haven't been dating a pureblood. This relationship we had is completely over. Don't talk to me again and I won't say a thing." He said as he let go of her arm to head to the boy's dormitory. She practically crawled to her bed. Once there she sobbed herself to sleep.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Harry shrugged the assorted blankets and sheets off of him and turned to sit on the edge of the bed. He rubbed his eyes trying to not think about last night and what had transpired. It didn't work at all. He pounded his forehead with the heels of his palms. How could he have ever trusted that slimy traitor of a woman? It was just another chance for a Slytherin lesson to be pounded into his head like a nail. He could never trust anyone besides himself. From now on he would follow the snake House's tenets to the letter.

Yes him, Harry Potter son of a mudblood Lily Evans and pureblooded James Potter would be the perfect Slytherin. Somehow he had escaped the Inquisition in the Slytherin House of all Mudbloods. It was probably his haughty attitude and solidly Slytherin features. Most other House members believed the title of Slytherin King to be a rivalry between him and Draco Malfoy. If Harry had been trying he could have easily came out on top but he chose to not make an issue out of the competition between the two Slytherin boys. Harry had obviously scored several victories such as the spot of Seeker on the house Quidditch team. Undoubtedly Draco had more loyal followers than his rival and part-time ally.

Harry sometimes wondered about what his life would have been like if his parents had been home when the Dark Lord arrived. He assumed they would have been mowed down in his defense even though he was the Chosen One who would stop Voldemort. They would have sacrificed themselves for him and that would have probably made him become a brave Gryffindor like everyone had been expecting. Harry thought that it would have taken quite a lot to turn him into a Gryffindor. For all his life his mind had always worked like a smooth Slytherin engine. He always had put his heritage first instead of his family. He didn't even really know his sister Catherine who was a second year.

It almost made him twinge in regret but then he thought about all the good things Slytherin House had given him. If he hadn't been a Slytherin he would never have gotten the chance to date Jessica even if it hadn't turned out for the best there were still a lot of good times shared with her. Not to mention the semi-companionship he shared with his ally/rivals in the House. No he decided he was doing just fine in the house of snakes, he wouldn't have it any other way.

He picked himself up off the bed and began to walk downstairs to get something to eat for breakfast. It felt weird to sit beside Draco Malfoy instead of Jessica. The blond boy sent him a questioning look but said nothing as his girlfriend Pansy Parkinson threw herself on his lap. Harry clenched his fist, why did Jessica have to betray him? If she hadn't she would be spread across Harry's lap. He clenched both fists while he ate a piece of toast slathered with jam. After he was done he quietly removed himself from the Great Hall. He couldn't think of what to do so he decided to take a walk around the school grounds.

Harry thought the chill fall air outside felt good at the moment. He remembered taking long walks with Jessica past curfew on week nights. He remembered illegal jaunts into the  
Forbidden Forest too. He shook his head once more in regret he couldn't seem to get her out of his head today. He passed a group of Gryffindors messing around in the piles of dead leaves. There were two redheads and the bushy haired Granger girl, what was her first name? He couldn't recall it. The two redheads were no doubt a bunch of Weasleys probably Ron since he was rumored to be infatuated with Granger. He tried to puzzle out the other redhead. She was undoubtedly a girl with her long flowing hair. He shook his head to stop thoughts about his hands going through that flowing hair. The girl would no doubt never touch him since he was a Slytherin. Her brother would probably kill her if she did such a thing. It would be a cardinal sin for a Weasley to date a Slytherin no matter that their parents were good friends.

It made him think about the days before he had left for Hogwarts. His parents had always forced him to hang out with the Weasley children such as Ron. None of his parent's best efforts worked to make Harry into the perfect little Gryffindor. Harry would have rather been by himself than play with the likes of Ronald Weasley. It had created a firm dislike for Gryffindors in his mind. Thus he had come to Hogwarts hoping to be anywhere but Gryffindor. Well his hopes had come true when that old and tattered hat spat out that little nine lettered word that began with an "s" and ended with an "n".

His parents had been completely amazed that their son had ended up in Slytherin with their old enemies' sons and daughters. Dumbledore had been even more amazed. He had unsuccessfully tried to get Harry to befriend Gryffindors even if he was a Slytherin. Harry had done nothing of the sort and just ignored the old man's instructions. Ever since he had faced a perpetual look of disappointment on the professor's face when Harry was around. Somehow Harry could see himself liking the old man in another life but in the here and now he had an intense dislike for him. The only thing that stopped him from completely hating the man was the fact that Umbridge had come here to unseat him which gave him points in Harry's mind. Anyone Umbridge hated he could deal with.

This thought inspired him to call a meeting of the Serpent Order. Then he could take out his rage on spell dummies. He turned around to make his way back to the castle. About a hundred feet before the door he met Jessica. She looked down so her eyes wouldn't meet his. Harry didn't say a word as he quickened his pace. When he got back in the castle he immediately headed down to the dungeons to put out the summons for the Order members to meet in their newest headquarters in an abandoned classroom. He met Draco just about to leave the Common Room. Harry pulled him away from Parkinson to speak to him in private. "I'm going to put out the summons for an Order meeting do you want to go?"

"Sure just let me go give Pansy an excuse to cancel our date. Man, even if she's my girlfriend I can only handle so much of her a day you know what I'm saying, eh Potter?"He left Harry to go let down Pansy. Harry went to his room to send a message to the other Order members through their snake pendants. Once he had sent the message he and Malfoy left to get in some private training in before the meeting.

After practicing several defense spells on unlucky dummies Draco spoke first, "So what's going on with you and Jessica? You didn't sit beside her at breakfast." He asked pointing out the obvious.

"Well we're just taking a little break for now. Maybe see other people you know what I mean." Harry answered as he slammed a dummy with a stunning spell.

"Then you should hit the party scene my friends I'm sure we can find you a woman. What do you say, you up for it, tonight?" Draco asked with a mischievous glint in his eye.

"Sure, why the hell shouldn't I?" Harry answered and blasted another dummy.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

The shot glass slammed against the wooden counter with a resounding thud. "Whoooohooo! Nobody can touch the Potter tolerance for alcohol, nobody." Harry roared to a cheering crowd of underage Hogwarts students. "Three in a row, do you want me to do more?" The burst of cheering gave Harry his answer. "Line them up again, Draco, my buddy, my pal." His silver haired friend began to pour more Fire whiskey into a trio of shot glasses lined up on the bar. When he was finished he grinned at Harry and gave him the thumbs up. Then Harry lifted up the first glass and gestured toward the crowd. In a second the burning liquid was sliding down his throat.

"I could drink this shit all day!!! Give me another." The crowd turned frenzied as he picked up another shot glass of amber fluid. Gesturing once more he downed this one just as he had the previous. The world began to shift before him. Maybe he was biting off more than he could chew? The mob began to sense his weakness. They then began a chant of "Do it, do it, do it!!!"Finally he succumbed to the pressure that was mounted against him.

"Goddamn it I'm going to finish what I started!" Harry grasped the last glass and brought it up to eye level as if to stare down his enemy. Then with a final gesticulation to the mass of people before him he downed the liquor. This last gulp felt like lava ripping down through his throat. The world began to swim and he had to grab the bar with one hand to steady himself. Draco picked up his other hand to throw it into the air as a sign of victory. Harry smiled to the crowd as the world began to slightly right itself. It however was not as still as he would have liked.

Draco made his way around the bar and put his arm around his friend's shoulders. He had enough experience to know that Harry was severely intoxicated even if he didn't necessarily look it. "I think you're good for the night bud. Let's just go enjoy the party." The platinum headed Slytherin said to Harry as he guided him into the crowd. Harry nodded in defeat but kept a smile on his face as he looked around the landscape surrounding him. He began to wink at the various girls present. Some nervously began to twirl their hair with nervous grins after gaining the attention of the great Harry Potter, King of Slytherin and King of the party.

"Well Draco I think that we will not be having any troubles finding women tonight." Draco grinned and nodded emphatically. "Not any trouble at all. Now if things could just settle themselves maybe I could go get one of them women…" Harry muttered as he tried to walk on his own. "Sometimes an ego can be such a bad thing for your health." Draco chuckled as his friend stumbled across the room. Finally he began to walk straight again.

"Well mate looks like you're all good. I'm going to go see Pansy if I don't I won't ever hear the end of it tomorrow. Good luck to you." Draco said then gave his friend a salute and dove back into the crowd to find his way to his obsessive girlfriend. Harry shook his head at Draco pandering to a girlfriend, how ridiculous? Life should be spent in the moment there was no need for lasting romantic bonds. It was not long before he was distracted from his train of thought by a tall brunette walking by. He began to walk to catch up to her. As she came upon a circle of her friends he stopped and composed himself.

"Hello there fine lady, I do believe we haven't met. The name's Harry, Harry Potter." He introduced himself with a sleazy smirk. The girl smiled and mumbled her name which Harry in his still inebriated state did not choose to commit to his memory. He very soon was leading her away to get better acquainted with her. It was most likely after such activities that he passed out…

()()()

Harry's world suddenly began to come back into focus as he sat up from the bench that he was sprawled across. He rubbed his forehead to try to ease the beating pain that resided in his head. When he looked up the sun angrily glared down at him. All he could remember was shots? How many had he taken? Why was he lying on a bench? The answers to these questions remained elusive. He had to get up and make his way to back to the Slytherin common from what he could see he was in the courtyard on one of the outdoor benches. After examining the area he noticed that there didn't seem to be much amiss. However as he stood up he realized he wore no boxers.

He then got down on his hands and knees searching frantically around the bench for them. Soon enough he found them directly underneath the bench out of sight. He picked them up and then after taking a cautious look around slipped them on after taking his pants off. Once he was all settled he started to make his way back to the castle. By how bright it was outside it was most likely breakfast time. It might be possible that he would be able to slip into the Great Hall directly.

()()()

Thankfully the Great Hall did not fall completely silent when he walked in as he had dreaded. The Slytherin table felt like heaven when he sat himself down beside Draco and Pansy. He put his arm conspiratorially around Draco's shoulders. "Listen we need to talk, now preferably." He said angrily while smiling. Draco nodded and led him back out into the lobby outside of the Great Hall.

"What in Merlin's name happened last night, Draco?" Harry asked his friend viciously. Draco simply smirked back.

"We partied, had some fun, I left you to go find Pansy and you disappeared. I don't have the slightest clue what you did. I did hear that someone saw you leave the party with some stunning chick. How was she, Potter?" Draco remarked while jostling Harry with his elbow.

"Well that would certainly explain the missing boxers…" Harry muttered which sent Draco into uproarious laughter. "It's not funny I have no idea what I did last night or with whom I did things last night. I feel like I've made an absolute and utter fool of myself." Draco kept on laughing and Harry started to glare at him.

"Don't you get it Harry this is what life is all about! This is exactly what you need now!" Harry looked bemused then as if an epiphany struck him.

"Maybe you're right my friend, maybe you're right." Draco then clapped him on the back and they returned to breakfast.


End file.
